Edgers are used in applications to trim turf growing along a walkway or a driveway where it is desired to produce a clean "edged" appearance to the turf. Such edgers are also often used to cut trenches through turf and into soil to enable cables or wiring to be laid in the soil.
Previously developed edgers, however, have suffered from certain drawbacks when the edger has been used with a wire brush wheel. Wire brush wheels presently available typically include a large number of twisted wire brush segments that are not particularly well suited for use with electrically powered edgers. The large number of wire brush segments are prone to "loading up" with soil and/or turf during use, often temporarily stalling the edger. When this occurs, the edger can also "kick" back toward the user, making use of the edger uncomfortable and tiring.
Such previously developed wire wheels having a large number of wire brush segments also produce a greater current draw on the electric motor of the edger during use than other cutting implements. This can limit the use of many wire wheels to those edgers having motors sufficiently powerful enough to handle the anticipated current draw that will result when using a wire wheel. If the wire wheel becomes momentarily loaded up or stalled during use, the current drawn by the motor will increase significantly and can potentially damage the edger motor.
The problem with excessive current draw with many previously designed wire wheels is further compounded when the edger is used to cut trenches in rocky or stony soil. In these instances, the contact of the wire wheel with stones or rocks increases the risk of loading up or stalling of the motor of the edger, thus increasing the risk of damage to the motor and/or damage to the wire wheel. Stalling can also occur if the wire wheel must cut into hard, compacted soil.
Another disadvantage concerning some previously developed edgers is the somewhat inconvenient process of changing edging implements and/or slippage of the edging implement relative to the spindle of the electric motor driving it. Such edgers often incorporate a number of independent washers and/or threaded nuts for holding the edging implement securely to the motor spindle, which makes changing the edging implement a time consuming and inconvenient process. Often some slippage of the edging implement occurs regardless of how tight the user is able to fasten the edging implement onto the spindle. This slippage can reduce the efficiency of the edger and thus lengthen the time and effort required to complete an edging/trenching task.
In view of the foregoing, it is a principal object of the present invention to provide an edger having a wire wheel which has a reduced number and novel arrangement of wire brush segments which requires less power to be driven by an electric motor than conventional wire wheels used with electric edgers.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an edger having a wire wheel which is less likely to become momentarily loaded up with soil or turf, or possibly stalled, when digging trenches or edging in hard soil, thereby preventing an unacceptably high current draw by the electric motor of the edger.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide an edger having a wire wheel which may be quickly and easily removed from an output spindle of the electric motor of the edger so that various edging implements such as edging blades and wire wheel brushes can be more quickly and easily attached to the spindle, and where the edging implement is even more securely held to the spindle to prevent undesired slippage of the edging implement relative to the spindle.